I know this chicken leg has a waffle under it, but this recipe just focuses on the actual fried chicken. Chicken n’ waffles will come later 🙂 Frying chicken wasn’t just another hedonistic pursuit, you know. I had a good reason—a very good reason. My friends and I have started an M&M group 😀 I crack myself up. M&M is Movie & Meal. We are going to go to movies together, and afterward dine on food inspired by the movie.  We SO know how to have a good time! 

Our first movie pick is The Help.  Now how could we have a The Help movie meal without fried chicken? I had to start frying chicken. Had to.

I didn’t expect to end up making the best fried chicken on the planet, though. Truth be told, I haven’t eaten much fried chicken in my life. I’ve had the occasional KFC, once or twice a decade, perhaps. Never been to Popeye’s. Had a few pieces from a Safeway’s deli once when my son was in middle school. There are no southern cooks in my family, so I have had no home fried chicken. Until now.  So perhaps I am not the most qualified person to declare this chicken “the best fried chicken on the planet”, but it is certainly the best fried chicken on MY planet. Or, maybe it’s just that home cooking beats fast food cooking every time 🙂

This recipe came from Epicurious in 1998 and it’s called Deviled Fried Chicken. The chicken needs to marinate a day or two before frying, so plan ahead. I reduced the chili powder quite a bit, and it still has a bit of a bite. The original recipe called for 4 teaspoons cayenne pepper, yikes!  The first batch I fried up was hunks of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  The next time, I had a hankering for some bones, so I fried up a mess of drumsticks. Drumsticks were harder. They had to be finished off in the oven. For The Help party, I am going back to big juicy hunks of chicken breast.

I have to tell you the rest of our menu for The Help dinner!  It’s going to be go-o-o-od!  There’ll be cucumber sandwiches and deviled eggs for appetizers, and crab bisque for the soup. Fried Chicken and a pineapple ham are the main dishes. The side dishes will include southern biscuits—we tested several recipes—mashed potatoes and gravy, collard greens or green beans, and a Jell-O salad—a MUST have! Caramel Cake—again, we tested several recipes—and chocolate cream pie with no off-putting ingredients will be our dessert. And lots of sweet tea, too. I’ll wear my pearls, of course.  One of my friends is getting out her cinch-waist dress, and another has her gloves ready!  I hope there are a few hats, too!

Fried Chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups buttermilk—the non-fat stuff won’t work
• ¼ cup Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons garlic powder, divided use
• 5 teaspoons salt, divided use
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard, divided use
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, divided use
• 2½ teaspoons ground black pepper, divided use
• 4 or 5 chicken breasts, cut into 8-10 pieces, skinned OR about a dozen drumsticks OR one frying chicken cut into 8 pieces.
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 5 cups (or more) of oil for frying—recipe suggested peanut oil, but vegetable oil and canola oil will work, too

DIRECTIONS

1. In a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag, mix buttermilk, Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1 teaspoon cayenne and 1 teaspoon black pepper.
2. Add chicken pieces. Seal bag, eliminating air. Turn bag to coat chicken evenly. Refrigerate at least 1 day and up to 2 days, turning plastic bag occasionally.
3. A bit more than one hour before you want to start to fry chicken, whisk flour, baking powder, garlic powder, remaining 1 tablespoon onion powder, 4 teaspoons salt, 3 teaspoons dry mustard, 1 teaspoon cayenne and 1½ teaspoons black pepper in a 13x9x2″ glass dish.
4. With marinade still clinging to chicken pieces—do not shake off excess—add chicken to flour mixture; turn to coat thickly.
5. Let chicken stand in flour mixture for 1 hour, turning chicken occasionally to recoat with flour mixture. The chicken will look very ugly at this point, but the flour mixture should cling thickly to the chicken.
6. Pour oil to depth of 1¼” into deep, 10-11″ diameter pot. Attach deep-fry thermometer. Heat oil over medium-high heat to 350°.
7. Add 4 pieces of chicken to oil.
8. Reduce heat to medium-low and fry 5 minutes, adjusting heat to maintain oil temperature between 280° and 300°—oil should bubble constantly around chicken.
9. Turn chicken over and fry 7 more minutes. Turn chicken over again and fry until deep golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes longer—I think I had my oil too hot, because my chicken was getting too dark, so when the chicken was the right color, I put it on a wire rack over a cookie sheet and baked in preheated 250° oven for approximately 20 minutes to thoroughly cook the drumsticks.  I had no problem with the boneless chicken breasts.
10. Reheat oil to 350°. Repeat frying with remaining 4 pieces of chicken.
11. Serve chicken warm or at room temperature (within 2 hours), or chill up to 1 day and serve cold.

Reheating has been a bit of an issue. My son has reheated pieces in the microwave, but this does not result in the coating getting re-crispy.  I have reheated pieces in a 350° oven for 15-20 minutes, and the coating gets almost recrisped. Two day old fried chicken reheated in the oven is STILL better than Safeway’s fresh from the deli counter!

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today—it’s always a pleasure! I hope you try this recipe; it’s a keeper!